LEADERSHIP LESSON
NO. 29
"Love the Church Or Go Into Some Other
Line of Work"
My
friend John was a flockless shepherd, a pastor lacking a
congregation. It's an awkward place in life for a preacher to
find
himself. Like being a lover without a sweetheart, a physician
with
no one to help, a teacher with no pupils.
"I
have to preach," he said to me. "Preaching is everything
to me!
Preaching is my passion."
I
said, "That's not good, John. Preaching was never meant to
be your
passion. Jesus Christ is supposed to be your passion."
Give
John credit; he heard that. "Wow," he said. "I
feel like I've
been hit in the face with a bucket of ice water. Thank you for
bringing me back to reality."
Personally,
I'm not sure the Lord calls anyone to preach, as the
expression goes. He calls us into His service to do whatever He
commands. That may indeed be to preach the gospel in pastoring
or
evangelism, but as with my situation, often the specifics change.
After 42 years of pulpit ministry, I moved into administration
and
the pastoral care of pastors. I still preach, but irregularly
and in
churches everywhere. Yet, I'm still in the ministry, still wearing
the uniform, still heeding the Master's commands.
We're
supposed to love the Lord our God supremely, first of all and
most of all. Everything else comes next. Including a deep love
for
His church.
Now,
just as my friend John focused too intently on preaching and
possibly put it ahead of his loyalty to Christ, some do that with
the church.
I
was listening on my car radio to Wallace, another pastor friend,
who was making an evangelistic appeal. He said something like,
"If
you are lost, if you are seeking direction in life, you are carrying
guilt over a life of rebellion and neglect, you want to find new
meaning and forgiveness and purpose in life, my friend, you need
a
new relationship...." At this point, I knew what was coming.
He
would tell the listeners about Jesus Christ and salvation.
But
I was wrong.
Continued
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LEARNING THE MASTER'S LESSONS
I'm
67 years old, I've been a Christian since I was 11, I've been
reading the Bible since I was 8, and I'm still making discoveries
in
the Word.
Everyone
knows the two miracles in Jesus' ministry when, on two
separate occasions, He fed over 5,000 people and over 4,000 people.
In both cases, the menu was loaves and fishes, it was a miraculous
multiplication of resources, every person present had all they
could
eat, and baskets filled with leftovers were gathered up.
On
at least two occasions afterwards, the Lord called the attention
of His disciples to those miracles in an attempt to make certain
they had grasped the meaning and learned the lessons the miracles
meant to convey.
In
Matthew 16, Jesus directed the disciples' attention to these
miracles. As the disciples prepare to cross Galilee, the Lord
overhears them arguing over who was supposed to bring bread. "Why
are you worrying about bread? Do you not understand or can't you
remember the two miracles? In the feeding of the 5,000 with the
5
loaves, how many basketsful did you pick up? And the 7 loaves
that
fed the 4,000, how many baskets you picked up?" Then, further
reinforcing that this is not about meeting their material needs,
Jesus said, "How is it that you do not understand that I
was not
speaking to you about bread?"
And
that's all He said. Nothing more. No belaboring the point, as
I
would have done. No haranguing them, no repetition of the lessons
of
the loaves and the fishes, nothing. He had given them the tools
and
expected them to figure this out.
So,
then--what is the lesson of the loaves and the fishes? To find
the same answer as the disciples, we have to answer the Lord's
questions. In the first miracle, how many baskets of leftovers
were
picked up? Twelve. In the second, when 4,000 were fed, seven were
picked up.
In
the scriptures, the number twelve represents the people of God.
Twelve tribes in the Old Testament, twelve apostles in the New.
In
Revelation, 24 elders stand around the throne, representing the
saints of both the Old and New Testament days.
Seven
means completeness or sufficiency. Seven days in a week, seven
lamps on the menorah in the Temple, and so on.
Twelve
baskets and 7 baskets: "Jesus Christ is sufficient for the
people of God."
That
was the lesson, and what a great one it was. The Lord's
sufficiency for His people is found all through the Bible. We
think
of the Old Testament name for God, "YHVH YIREH," commonly
referred
to as "Jehovah Jireh," meaning "The Lord will See
To It," or "The
Lord Who Provides."
Think
of the opening words of Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd;
I
shall not want." Then, everyone's favorite verses, Philippians
4:13
and 4:19.
So,
the Lord said to the disciples, "Stop worrying about bread.
Did
you not learn that I am sufficient for your needs?"
He
had performed the miracles and sent the lesson, but they had not
given any thought to His intended meaning for them and were no
better off than before.
Continued
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"Pay Thy Workers"
"I appreciate your coming by, pastor. There's something I
need to
talk with you about."
"Always
glad to see my director of missions. What's going on?"
"I
want to tell you a little story about a pastor I met this week.
I
was speaking at a senior adult thing at Camp Living Waters up
at
Loranger."
"I
love that place. We take our kids there every summer."
"After
my message, various ones were coming by to express thanks or
to ask a question. Then, this pastor came by. He reminded me that
I
had drawn a cartoon for him several years ago. Of course, I didn't
remember it."
"Anyway,"
I continued, "it had to do with a revival he had preached
in another pastor's church. He drove a couple of hundred miles
to
get there, spent four days in the town doing everything he could
to
help that church, including preaching six sermons. And when it
was
over, he said, they gave him 75 dollars. That, and two cases of
toilet cleanser."
"Are
you serious?"
"That
is exactly what I asked. He said he was. The cartoon I drew
showed him hanging around the church with all that toilet cleanser.
And someone is saying, 'I think he's waiting on the turnip greens.'"
"Turnip
greens? I don't get it."
"It's
the way they did things in the old days, you know. They'd pay
the preacher in vegetables."
"Oh.
That was rather cruel, wasn't it."
"It
was. This man has a family to provide for, bills to pay, and a
car to maintain. And they hardly gave him enough to buy the gas."
"And
your point for me is?"
Continued
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